Hi

the more I read the more I am confused on the right hardware for my build

 

at the moment I am running a QNAS with 12TB of storage, with Plex services to allow me to stream my films, but I have encounter that my server is not up to the job of running PLEX so I am going down the Building your Own. as at the moment I am running my films in 1020 surround sound, but in time I would like to more this to 4K

 

I would like some help on the following

 

for the following I am looking at:

 

CPU:                I5 Range

Cache:             500MB to 1TB Cache HD

Storage:           6 X 4TB Hard drivers for my Storage  looking for at WD Red Range

Ram:                DDR 4 8GB of RAM with expansion to 16GB if need be

Raid:                Not sure if I need on board RAID

power:             as low as possible with a module PSU

 

but want I am having issues with at the moment is the right motherboard and CPU. I would like to keep the build below £500 not including the case or HD's

 

any suggestions

Edited November 3, 20187 yr by chris_netsmart

Any current i5 or i3 should work - i5-8xxx, i5-9xxx, i3-8xxx - will do hardware 4k transcoding. 

If you are ONLY going to do Plex, the i3 is more than enough.

For a MB, as long as you stick with a name brand I don't think you will go wrong (Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock, Biostar, MSI, Jetway).

I've heard a lot of good feedback on Asrock, Asus & MSI.  I've heard a lot of good feedback on Jetway if you are doing a mini-ITX setup.

 

You don't need RAID on the motherboard, it's useless Unraid purposes. You do want as many SATA connections as you can get and at least a couple PCI-E slots so you can do add-in cards.

Edited November 3, 20187 yr by whipdancer

2 hours ago, whipdancer said:

Any current i5 or i3 should work - i5-8xxx, i5-9xxx, i3-8xxx - will do hardware 4k transcoding. 

If you are ONLY going to do Plex, the i3 is more than enough.

For a MB, as long as you stick with a name brand I don't think you will go wrong (Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock, Biostar, MSI, Jetway).

I've heard a lot of good feedback on Asrock, Asus & MSI.  I've heard a lot of good feedback on Jetway if you are doing a mini-ITX setup.

 

You don't need RAID on the motherboard, it's useless Unraid purposes. You do want as many SATA connections as you can get and at least a couple PCI-E slots so you can do add-in cards.

Thanks Whipdancer

 

me being a blonde moment the 8xxx or 9xxx after the I5 or I3 is the generation of the CPU ?

 

here is my first stab at building the NAS.  Please note I have left out the WD Red 4TB 7200 X 4 Hard Drivers at the moment

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/bWGyZR

 

if there is anything better or I have chosen the wrong part then please let me know as it has been years, since I last build a workstation.

Edited November 3, 20187 yr by chris_netsmart

Yes, the 8xxx 9xxx indicate latest gen cups. Essentially, you can look for a model that ends in either of those and you  should be fine.  

 

The i3-8100 is a very good choice for a low power consumption plex server.

 

I can't comment on the mb choice outside of what I would find if I googled reviews of it but generally everything looks fine to  me.

Edited November 4, 20187 yr by whipdancer
typo

this is a general question, as I see that my CPU and Motherboard has no graphical capabilities, can I boot the Unraid into a headless environment on first boot. or will I need a graphics card to set it up for the first time.

7 hours ago, chris_netsmart said:

this is a general question, as I see that my CPU and Motherboard has no graphical capabilities, can I boot the Unraid into a headless environment on first boot. or will I need a graphics card to set it up for the first time.

I assume so, but I don't actually know.  You might ask in the pre-sales forum.

I was talking to a friend whom has a Intel Core i7 4770K -16GB DDR3 1600Mhz - Intel Z87 Chipset Motherboard,  with 16gb of DDR3.   will this do the job ?

Edited November 4, 20187 yr by chris_netsmart